Taking the Work programme (WP) wording as reference: “Implementing partners means third parties receiving financial support from the beneficiary and implementing the MSCA COFUND Doctoral or Postdoctoral programmes” (p.75 of the Horizon Europe MSCA Work Programme). An implementing partner that employs researchers but does not get funding would not strictly fall within the WP definition of implementing partners.

However, if a partner plays an important role in the implementation of the project but does not receive financial support from the beneficiary, the situation will be assessed by the evaluators at the proposal stage. In this case, the partner could still be considered implementing partner and still, partners recruiting researchers and playing a major role in the implementation of the project would need to comply with the specific eligibility conditions (e.g., country eligible for funding). The corresponding EU contribution (researcher-months) should be properly used by the beneficiary in some cost of the project though.

Yes, of course. The letter of commitment must state if Associated Partners contribute financially and how much is this contribution; however Associated partners cannot recruit researchers or receive EU funding, they can only host/ train researchers.

Implementing partners can also contribute financially even though they will receive financial support via the beneficiary.

Yes, as indicated in the GfA (page 9) https://rea.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2021-10/MSCA%20COFUND%202021%20-%20Guide%20for%20Applicants.docx.pdf: Associated partners known at the proposal stage must be included under the participants section in the part A of the proposal as well as in the relevant section in the part B2 (section 5).

The applicant shall only fill out this section if relevant, otherwise it can be left blank. There is already a table to be completed for the partners (Implementing or Associated) in part B2.

Both implementing partners and associated partners can provide co-financing. The money for the implementing partners can come from the coordinator, whereas the money for the associated partners has to come from a different source as they can’t receive EU money.

Economic/ technological and Societal impact sub-sections in 2.4 are linked to the (economic) impact. What impact the project results, not only in terms of research results but also in terms of the results of the programme as such (e.g. new concept of training, new approach, etc.).

This section is linked to the European Innovation CAPACITY. It is not focusing on IMPACT (which is strongly linked to the project results) but on CAPACITY or creating critical mass. Thus this section is more linked to the delivery of uniquely trained researchers in a certain topic. This can contribute to the CAPACITY (e.g. next generation researchers that have unique and improved skills and level of expertise compared to the researchers today in and outside Europe, etc.).

For Table 3.1d in case of one researcher with split/ multiple recruitments, the applicant can complete the table only once, listing both/ all recruitments. The same goes for table 1.3a provided that the table is clear and easy to understand and has the information about the two recruitments per fellow.

It would be good to have the eight elements listed on p. 82 of the Work Programme 2021-2022 already in the proposal, however, if the applicants don’t have enough space, REA will add them at the grant agreement preparation phase.

If the fellow was 1) performing their main activity in the lab based abroad and they were physically present there, and/ or 2) they were also residing abroad, then they should be considered eligible for France.

Timesheets and declarations are not requested in MSCA projects (contrary to other Horizon Europe actions based on actual costs). To prove that the researcher worked on their MSCA project, it is sufficient to present a contract with the host institution together with additional documents proving the fellow’s dedication to the project, if needed.

Moreover, declarations are not allowed by the auditors. REA has confirmed that the declaration on exclusive work is not applicable for audits carried out in MSCA ITN, IF and COFUND actions to determine time spent working on the action. It is expected this will continue in Horizon Europe.

As outlined in the H2020 Indicative Audit Programme, such evidence may include lab books, attendance lists, conference abstracts, library records, travel expenses, timesheets, reports to supervisor, meeting minutes, e-mail exchanges, etc. and other open sources (e.g. the internet) to see if the researcher worked on activities other than their  project. The auditors will also look at the researcher’s employment contract or corresponding agreement to see if it complies with Article 32 of the H2020 Annotated Model Grant Agreement, including but not limited to the obligation that the researcher works exclusively for the action.

Fellows need documentation in the form of a contract that shows the 50% commitment or something similar since MSCA does not typically operate with timesheets.

When talking about impact, this is prospective, it is in the future, assuming that the project is successful and that it achieves everything that it set up to achieve. The applicants could base themselves on some other studies to strengthen or build their case about the impact they could have, before the impact is actually achieved.

There are different scientific panels and proposals are ranked within their scientific panel. Proposals in some panels are more STEM-oriented and would have a different kind of impact than proposals in the SOC panel for instance, but these proposals would not compete against the STEM-oriented proposals. It should also be considered that the impact is now broadened to encompass not only a purely scientific impact but also impact on the society at large. This can be an area where the SSH proposals could actually have a competitive advantage.

The first thing to note is, that even though they cannot directly claim costs, it does not mean that they cannot indirectly receive some funding for the role they have in the DN. Typically for each unit cost, there is one part that goes to the researcher and then there is the institutional part, and this part should not be seen as funding for just this particular fellow, and this beneficiary. It is rather a common pot for the whole consortium to run the project. In the consortium agreement the consortium defines how this is split. This funding can be distributed to the different partners according to their needs in the project: some partners provide more trainings, for instance, the coordinator typically has more management costs, so this funding can be redistributed, and some of this money can go to associated partners to cover the costs of them hosting researchers for secondments, or for them to provide trainings. So these are internal arrangements within the consortium (in the broader sense with the associated partners) so they can get indirectly money for their action. Of course, there are also non-financial incentives; the interest for them to participate could be transfer of knowledge or being part of a dynamic network and being associated to the research project.

For PF, direct financial benefits may not be there but there are plenty indirect benefits – scientific contributions, networking, getting experience in this type of projects, hosting events.

The legal status that the EC has assigned to the organisation during the validation process has to be checked on the Funding and Tenders Opportunities Portal.

In addition, please note that non-academic placements can only take place in EU MS or HE AC, as clarified on p. 11 of the MSCA PF 2022 Guide for applicants.

Applicants can download the editable proposal templates by starting submission – it is not necessary to register the proposal, immediately at first step there is a button ’Download Part B templates’.

In the actual Part A of the European Fellowship proposal, there is no confusion. The PDF template has the Global Fellowship version of the budget table. In the submission system, European Fellowship applicants have the correct version.

This is an institutional decision of the organisation where the supervisor is meant to be recruited by the time the project starts: if it is possible for them to have somebody not employed acting as staff in a European project.

If the answer is yes, then the applicant should go ahead with that institution, they can include the information on the institution’s infrastructure and capacities.

If the answer is no, then the applicant should include information on the institution where the supervisor is recruited at present. In that case, if a change of host has to be asked for, it should happen at GAP stage.

Having in mind that the supervisor is the official contact for the beneficiary in the project proposal, another solution is that the applicant includes someone else as the main contact/ supervisor, for example head of the lab/ institute, and list the other one as co-supervisor. From the point of view of a reviewer, the fact that the actual supervisor is not yet employed by the organisation is a potential risk. It would make the proposal stronger, if the employment contract were already signed (with a future start date), or there would be something else in place to ensure that the person is employed by the start date of the project at the latest.

Yes, PACS is considered as an equivalent status to a marriage in France.

Timesheets and declarations are not requested in MSCA projects (contrary to other Horizon Europe actions based on actual costs). To prove that the researcher worked on their MSCA project, it is sufficient to present a contract with the host institution together with additional documents proving the fellow’s dedication to the project, if needed.

Moreover, declarations are not allowed by the auditors. REA has confirmed that the declaration on exclusive work is not applicable for audits carried out in MSCA ITN, IF and COFUND actions to determine time spent working on the action. It is expected this will continue in Horizon Europe.

As outlined in the H2020 Indicative Audit Programme, such evidence may include lab books, attendance lists, conference abstracts, library records, travel expenses, timesheets, reports to supervisor, meeting minutes, e-mail exchanges, etc. and other open sources (e.g. the internet) to see if the researcher worked on activities other than their  project. The auditors will also look at the researcher’s employment contract or corresponding agreement to see if it complies with Article 32 of the H2020 Annotated Model Grant Agreement, including but not limited to the obligation that the researcher works exclusively for the action.

Fellows need documentation in the form of a contract that shows the 50% commitment or something similar since MSCA does not typically operate with timesheets.

Organisations can only encode secondments that are eligible for EC funding. So organisations could encode the secondments going to the UK, but not those from the UK to a beneficiary. It is the dates included in the mobility declarations (previously researchers’ declarations) which are used for financial reporting.  

The researcher is eligible to participate, the change of status does not affect their eligibility.

The UK partners will be funded with the UKRI Horizon Europe Guarantee, in line with the original budget line. They will no longer be able to be included as a beneficiary but will need to become Associated Partners (APs).  Secondments to UK APs from Member States (MS) and/ or Associated Countries (AC) will be funded by the EC as originally foreseen in the proposal. Secondments from UK APs to MS/ AC/ other APs will be funded via UKRI, in line with the budget line and secondment plan in the proposal. Secondments from another AP to the UK will also be funded via UKRI.